In regard to your article entitled, “School services under review” we would like to know if bus services will be improved if/when they are privatized. We have used the Lake Orion Transportation Bus Service for our children for the past 10 years. In general, we have had no problems and the personnel in the Transportation office have done a good job of answering our questions whenever they occur. My concern is with the distance that children have to walk to their bus stops. When Lake Orion made the decision to only pick up children from main roads, the walk to catch the bus increased greatly for some parents and children. Homes that are deep within some subdivisions require the children to walk upwards of one half mile to their bus stop. For elementary and middle school children (age 5 to 13), this seems like a long walk. Of course, when the mornings are dark and if there is snow and rain, the difficulties increase. Most of our subdivisions do not have sidewalks, and the children have to walk in the street.

Because of longer walks to the bus stop, more and more parents skip the bus and drive their children to school. This causes very long drop off and pick up lines, and very congested traffic, around our schools. I know we are in a cost-cutting mode, but I think the safety issue is more important. If possible, I would like to see the current policies reviewed. Wherever possible, the walk for children to the bus should be minimized. This will make our children safer on their way to the bus, and reduce the traffic and congestion around our schools.